Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Drug Abuse

Featured

Addictions to, dependence on, and abuse of alcohol and drugs—from marijuana and methamphetamine to cocaine and heroin—place emotional and economic burdens on individuals, families, and communities. RAND research provides a firm, empirical foundation for policymakers and helps community leaders and public officials worldwide to deal effectively with substance abuse and associated issues.

Increasing access to medications like methadone and buprenorphine is essential to addressing the U.S. opioid crisis. But the severity of the crisis warrants examining additional interventions. What does the evidence suggest about heroin-assisted treatment and supervised consumption sites? And what are some of the issues associated with implementing them in the United States?

Explore Substance Abuse

Law enforcement has a unique role in addressing the opioid crisis because it interacts with those affected by it on a day-to-day basis. Promising efforts include connecting people with opioid use disorder to treatment, collaborating to achieve community buy-in, and protecting officers on the front lines.

America's fentanyl problem is far deadlier than past crises with other illegal drugs. New ideas, be they public policies, technologies or law enforcement strategies, are desperately needed. Continuing to treat fentanyl just like previous drug epidemics will likely be insufficient and may condemn thousands more to early deaths.

The U.S. overdose crisis worsened dramatically with the arrival of synthetic opioids like fentanyl—now responsible for tens of thousands of deaths annually—and the problem requires innovative new strategies because the epidemic is unlike others that have struck the nation.

The rise of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids is unlike any drug crisis in U.S. history. Limiting policy responses to existing approaches will likely be insufficient and may condemn many people to early deaths.

The relationship between business cycles and health is theoretically complex. In a seminal paper, Ruhm (2000) outlined a series of economic mechanisms through which business cycles may influence health.

Supervised consumption sites (SCS) operate in more than 10 countries. We review the higher-quality SCS literature and discuss the evidence through the lens of three types of decision makers and from three intellectual perspectives.

To realize the gains envisioned by recent legislation, the Administration and Congress should prioritize additional funding to modernize our child welfare system to meet the unique needs of families affected by substance misuse.

RAND researchers analyzed the formulas for distributing funds to states under three block grants for services related to mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness (unchanged since 1992) to determine whether they should be modified.

RAND researchers analyzed the formulas for distributing funds to states under three block grants for services related to mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness (unchanged since 1992) to determine whether they should be modified.

Given China's recent decision to ban the unauthorized manufacture of fentanyl, authorities there appear to recognize a growing problem. But China cannot solve the U.S. opioid problem. The United States could do more to reduce demand for opioids as well as drug users' exposure to these powerful drugs.

Although many states have passed some type of law affecting naloxone availability, only laws allowing direct dispensing by pharmacists appear to be useful. Communities in which access to naloxone is improved should prepare for increases in nonfatal overdoses and link these individuals to effective treatment.

Allowing pharmacists to dispense the opioid antidote naloxone without a physician's prescription can sharply reduce the incidence of fatal opioid-related overdoses. States that adopted such laws saw fatal opioid overdoses fall by an average of 27 percent during the second year following passage and 34 percent in subsequent years.

RAND Europe conducted an independent evaluation of the UK Department of Health's drug and alcohol recovery payment-by-results pilots to determine whether market forces can encourage the development of better recovery programs.

While federal, state and, local governments deploy strategies to tackle the opioid crisis, the problem continues to proliferate. RAND researchers suggest that these strategies fail to solve the larger problem because they've largely been developed in silos. The opioid crisis is an ecosystem, and mitigating the problem will require a holistic approach.

An evaluation of how the PbR approach can help to provide different schemes that support the recovery of individuals from drug and alcohol dependence and their successful re-integration into their communities.

Topics

Related

Researcher Spotlight

Director, Opioid Policies, Tools, and Information Center (OPTIC)

Bradley Stein is a senior physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. A health services and policy researcher with clinical experience working with children and adults with mental health and substance use…

Behavioral Scientist

Erik D. Storholm is a behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. A licensed clinical psychologist, he is also a combination prevention core scientist at UCLA's Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (CHIPTS); a scholar in the UCLA HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse and…

RAND Policy Currents

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.